Obesity and the Digestive System

Description of Research

Dr. Zeller’s program aims to significantly improve the health and quality of life of obese adolescents by identifying psychosocial correlates of pediatric obesity that are potential barriers to successful weight management. This research includes adolescents with extreme obesity (BMI > 99th percentile) and those seeking bariatric surgery. Dr. Zeller is the lead behavioral researcher within the Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) consortium, a multi-site research group conducting an observational and longitudinal cohort study following medical and psychosocial (quality of life, depression, binge eating) outcomes of adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery as they transition to young adulthood. Within this consortium, Dr. Zeller also is the PI of an ancillary study (TeenView: R01DK080020) that broadens the psychosocial scope of Teen-LABS to examine the positive impact of surgery on age-salient domains of adolescent psychosocial functioning and factors that may account for variations in this age group (e.g., family dysfunction, high-risk behaviors, and high-risk contexts) during this developmental transition. Dr. Zeller also has expertise in instrument development, specifically in the area of pediatric obesity-specific quality of life.